That's what brothers are for
by Shane'Phantom'Riley141
Summary: You know Simon 'Ghost' Riley but what if he had a twin brother who never escaped Manuel Roba. When Ghost finally finds out that his brother is alive he comes down with an illness that leaves him bedridden. Will ghost push through his illness or will he be too late to save his brother, the only blood family he has left.
1. prologue

**disclaimer: i do not own any recognizable characters or the story to the prologue.**

 **A/N**

 **The prologue is basically the biography from wiki so i don't own it, its just so you get the idea of how my OC is interpreted into Ghosts past. i do not own it.**

 **now that the formalities are done enjoy the story. please R &R. **

Shane and Simon are twin brothers. They both lived in Manchester when they were younger before they joined the military when they were 18. Their father was abusive towards them, and he brought back dangerous animals including a poisonous snake, which had bitten Shane when had been made to kiss it and left him vulnerable to all drugs of any kind.

The brother's father was always drunk and threatened to kill them both if they told the police about the way he treats them, their brother and mother. At night Shane would wear a skull mask to scare Simon and Tommy, their little brother.

Simon used to be an apprentice butcher at a grocery when he grew up and Shane worked at the local shooting range cleaning guns. Both boys used to go shooting to get their anger out and over time they became very good at it especially with the snipers in Shane's case. After the September 11 attacks happened, they joined the military. They were both expert soldiers, but Simon proved that he had no fear of killing and he wasn't hesitant in doing so. Also he has the right attitude towards the CO this got him into the SAS as a lieutenant. Shane, later managed to get skilled enough to get into the SAS after 1 year of training his butt off just so he could be with his brother but as a sergeant.

The twins came back home one day in January and found there family was in a crisis. Their father was constantly cheating on their poor mother, Tommy was addicted to drugs. So Simon promised that they would not go back to the military until they fixed their families lives, but Shane wanted to have a new start without the painful past he has had and the only way he knew how to do that was to never see his family again. However Simon managed to persuade him that he couldn't leave his family behind and leave them like they were.

When the twins sorted their family's predicament they went back to the SAS. Simon and Shane were pulled out from shipping out for an operation in Iran and were set to take down the Zaragoza Drug Cartel headed by Manuel Roba. Their mission was to find and capture a Mexican terrorist and drug lord by the name of Roba. Little did they know, Vernon was in the loop with Roba and the entire operation was a disaster waiting to happen, their team was killed save for Shane, Simon and two of their team mates, Washington and Sparks. They were pitted against each other and forced to fight to the death. They refused to kill their team mates and every time they didn't they tortured them. Roba wanted to turn them into his little puppets like he had done to Vernon. He tried several brainwashing techniques on the four, but they refused to break.

Roba wanted to test Simon's abilities, so he had one of his men attack him, armed with a knife. Simon managed to get the upper hand and break his attacker's neck but not before he sliced him from his left eye to his right collarbone. After Simon succeeded, Roba became even more determined to control both Shane and Simon. The torture continued for four months becoming more and more intense and painful until they had finally believed the man had destroyed them. Washington and Sparks had escaped when they learned Roba had grown tired of them and planned to kill them all. They tried to save the twins, but couldn't open their cell.

They were right, that night Roba pulled Shane out of the twins cell and tried to kill him by piercing his side with this giant hook tied to a tree limb. He left him to die but he didn't, that was probably the most painful thing that Shane had ever experienced and the only thing he wanted to do was roll over and die. They returned that morning and when they found him still breathing, Roba pulled him down then buried Shane and Simon alive with the decomposing body of Vernon who he had killed at some time or another.

With Shane unconscious and bleeding, Simon ripped out Vernon's bottom jaw and used the bone to break his way out of the coffin and dig his way out of the ground. It took him about thirteen hours. His initial idea was that he was going to go get help for his brother from the nearest town, providing Shane lived that long. Disoriented and dehydrated, Simon somehow managed to make it to Texas on foot and was found unconscious by an officer patrolling the desert.

The six months after Simon made it out of there, he suffered terrible nightmares and hallucinations and he was put on several different medications. He regretted leaving his brother behind but there was no way that he could have carried him in the state he was in. Simon was still having temper-management issues so he was not accepted back into the military. After having an episode with his former-colleague, Kevin Sparks, his entire family was killed by Sparks and Washington. He killed the manslaughter's and went after Manuel Roba once more. He ambushed Roba's right-hand man, Gilberto and tortured Roba's location out of him. He arrived at Roba's compound and stole all of the information on the company and killed Roba. When he left, he was approached by General Shepherd and recruited into the Task Force 141 under the name of Ghost, Simon 'Ghost' Riley. Simon thought that his twin brother was still alive but his new friends in the 141 told him that it was impossible but he refused to believe it.


	2. Nightmares

**DISCLAIMER: i don't own call of duty or its characters**

The Task Force 141 base was quiet. Everyone was sleeping peacefully in their bunks. Except one, in a small 4 bunk room a certain soldier tossed and turned in a nightmare filled sleep. Simon 'Ghost' Riley was having one of the worst nightmares he's ever had. It wasn't a nightmare of his time, getting tortured by Roba or seeing his family lying dead on the floor, but of his twin brother, Shane.

 **(nightmare)**

Ghost coughed and rubbed his forehead as he slowly woke up. He instantly sat bolt upright as he realized he was no longer lying in his bunk, but surrounded with darkness, outside on some rocky terrain. It reminded him of the place where he left his brother, unconscious and bleeding, almost 2 years ago, near Texas. His breathing became more hectic as his eyes darted around the empty darkness. Ghost rose to his feet and looked down at his chest, noticing that he was no longer wearing his sleep wear, which consisted of his boxers and a black vest top, but SAS uniform. It was worn, tatty and covered in blood. But that was the least of his concerns at the moment. Utter confusion and a deep fear clouded Ghost's mind until he couldn't think or begin to comprehend what was happening. His eyes slowly began to adjust to the shadows and he urged his legs to move. He looked around and spotted a body leaning on a nearby rock.

"Who's there?" Ghost asked quietly, afraid to break the intense silence that surrounded him. The figure didn't answer nor did it acknowledge Ghost's presence. Its head was hanging down as if staring at nothing.

"I said who's there?" Ghost asked once more raising his voice. Again, the figure was unresponsive. Ghost took a few more steps, naturally cautious. The panicky feeling in his chest was building more and more and he felt like he was about to lose his mind. Finally Ghost halted as he recognized the ice blue eyes and dark brown hair in the moonlight.

"…..Shane?" he said softly. The figure looked up. It was deathly quiet. All Ghost could hear was the sound of his own shaky breathing, and it seemed intensely loud.

"bro is that you?" Ghost asked as he closed the gap between them and reached out to him. With a ferocious jerk, his head looked up at Ghost. A breath and a scream caught in Ghost's throat as he stumbled backwards tripping over some unseen object and crashed to the floor. He couldn't believe it, his brother was alive but something was off. Shane was covered in blood; he had cuts all over his otherwise flawless face. He noticed that Shane was bleeding from a wound on his side. Memories came flooding to Ghost as he realised that the injuries he was seeing were the injuries that Shane had last time he saw him.

"You did this to me!" Shane suddenly shouted causing the cuts, on his face to leak out blood as his head shook. Ghost was frozen in terror and he couldn't find the strength to move any part of his body. Shane pulled his M14 EBR/M21 EBR sniper rifle from behind his back and aimed it at Ghost.

"Wait! I didn't do this, Roba did and I took care of him. He's dead." Ghost countered and attempted to pull the rifle out of his hands but Shane put up a fight and shot at ghost. Lucky for ghost, shane missed and shot the ground by his feet.

Suddenly a bright light filled the area, blinding the brother's temporarily. Ghost turned to the silhouette standing a few meters away from him. The figure, ghost recognised as Roba slowly lifted a pistol he was holding and aimed it at Ghost. Shane did the same thing with his sniper rifle.

"Die English"

"See you in hell bro"

"No!" Ghost cried out as both guns went off in a burst of even brighter light.

 **(Normal)**

"No!" Ghost cried out as he came awake in his bunk. He flailed his arms at the figure leaning above him and strong hands caught his wrists attempting to immobilize him, but the figure wasn't strong enough to hold ghost down. With one more flail of his arms ghost delivered a right hook to the poor figures face, knocking him on the floor with a thud. By this time the soldiers sharing the room with ghost, which consisted of Roach, Meat and Royce, had awoken to see there captain sprawled out on the floor and Ghost trembling on his bunk. Roach jumped down off his bed and went over to Ghost to see if he was ok. When roach put a firm hand on Ghosts shoulder, ghost jumped up and got in a fighting stance.

"Whoa! Easy mate it's me." Roach said in a soft voice. The voice seemed to bring Ghost to his senses and he gazed around gasping for breath, as he realized where he was. His eyes rested on his Captain who was getting up off the floor and then at Roach who was approaching him with caution. His eyes then gazed upon his roommates; they looked shocked and confused.

"Roach, 'tavish? Ghost whispered still slightly confused.

"Yea it's us," Soap answered softly as he looked at the Lieutenant, "you alright?"

"What happened?" ghost said so softly only McTavish and roach could hear him as they were nearest.

"Well I heard you screaming from my room down the hall so I came to see if you were ok. I came in here to see you drenched in sweat and screaming at the top of your lungs. I'm surprised that these idiots didn't here you." McTavish said whilst pointing to the three 141 soldiers who were still surprised as to what just happened. Ghost had sat down on the chair in the corner of the room. Head in hands, he started to shake uncontrollably. Soap, seeing that his lieutenant was shaking asked meat and Royce to go to his room for the night. Reluctantly they did so, still shocked at what ghost had just done.

Soap approached Ghost very slowly. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Ghost looked up at his captain. His eyes were red and puffy from tiredness. He had dark bags under his eyes and the little bit of skin that was visible through his mask was pale, very pale, like he had just seen a Ghost.

"Talk to me Ghost, what happened" Soap said gently to comfort the younger man. Roach was sat on his bunk looking sympathetic towards Ghost. Being one of the two people who knew ghosts past, he was desperate to know what had gotten the lieutenant so worked up. He had never seen Ghost like this before. Sure he had horrific nightmares, who wouldn't with a past like his, but he always just kept them to himself and tries and conceals the scream when he does. Ghost has never screamed the way he just did before.

"He blames me for what they did to him" was all that Ghost said before he broke down crying. Roach didn't know who he was talking about but he wanted to comfort the lieutenant so he got off his bunk and went over to Ghost. Roach knew this went against the ranks but he couldn't let his friend suffer without comfort, he embraced Ghost into a brotherly hug. Ghost leaned into the embrace and cried louder.

"Who blames you Ghost?" Roach said before Soap could intervene.

"Shane" Ghost managed to chock out between sobs. Roach was confused, who was Shane and why hasn't Ghost mentioned him before.

"You know you couldn't have done anything and it was Roba and his men not you. Stop blaming yourself for what his men did to you two. You can't change what has happened. Come on let's get you back to bed. You've got a mission tomorrow and I can't have my 2nd hand man tired now can I?" Soap said as he attempted to take Ghost back to bed. Roach partly understood now, this Shane person was tortured with Ghost, when he was captured by Mexican terrorist and drug lord, Roba.

"You don't understand! I should have at least attempted to bring him with me but I didn't! I could have but I didn't! Shane could be dead or alive for all I know and you expect me to stop blaming myself! Well your wrong. How would you feel if you had a twin brother and you left him for dead because you didn't try to help him. I feel that he's alive and I'm not going to stop searching for him!" Ghost ranted and whatever sadness that was in his icy blue eyes was replaced with pure determination and anger as he shoved Soap out of the way and stormed out of the room.


	3. Bad news

**disclaimer: i do not own any recognizable characters from COD modern warfare 2 or the story to the prologue.**

That morning, Roach woke up to find Ghost's bunk empty. He got up and got dressed in simple joggers and t-shirt. Roach wondered where Ghost had gone so he decided that before he got something for breakfast in the mess hall he would go find his lieutenant.

On the way out of the barracks, Roach bumped into Meat and Royce. "what was up with ghost last night?" Meat said. Roach didn't want know how to answer that question as Ghost had trusted him with the knowledge of his past, a past he wasn't proud of, and Roach didn't want to betray that trust.

"It was just a very realistic dream that's all. Anyway have you seen him?" Roach answered.

"yeah, he was on his way up to the tree overlooking the Heli-pad." Royce said. Roach knew that Ghost would have been at the tree or in the gym, taking his anger out on his punching bag. The tree Royce was talking about was a huge oak tree with wooden boards wedged in between the sturdier branches, with a makeshift rope ladder leading up to them. This tree was Ghosts favorite hangout spot away from the rest of the rowdy Task Force after a particularly hard mission or after a horrific nightmare. Most men in the Task Force didn't disturb Ghost at this place because it usually means that he is in a bad mood.

 **{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…..}**

 **{Searching File...}**

 **{File Granted!...}**

 **{Roach's POV…}**

As I made my way over to the tree I couldn't help but still wonder about who Shane was and what relationship did Ghost have with him, but then I remembered what Ghost had said whilst he was ranting at MacTavish 'How would you feel if you had a twin brother and you left him for dead because you didn't try to help him?'. I was curious, was Shane Ghosts brother? And how come Ghost has never mentioned him before.

As I neared the tree I could see a foot dangling off of the boards. I recognized the perfectly polished, size 11 patrol boots that put the rest of the taskforces to shame, they were Ghosts. He is probably asleep due to the way the foot was hanging down limply, I thought as I approached the bottom of the tree.

"Ghost, sir are you alright?" I asked as I climbed the ladder. Immediately I knew something was wrong. Ghosts was breathing in short, shallow breaths and the little bit of skin visable was as white as a sheet. I decided to check for a fever as his balaclava was soaked in sweat. I took off his balaclava and glasses just as Ghost moaned in his sleep; his whole face was pale, except for his cheeks which were flushed. I put a hand on Ghosts forehead only to have him flinch away from my touch, he definitely had a fever as I didn't even touch him and I could feel the heat radiating off of him. He moaned again as his eyes opened. His normal icy blue eyes were dull and glassy, framed with dark circles underneath.

"Roach? What you doing here?" Ghost croaked as he attempted to sit up but failed and fell back almost hitting his head on the trunk of the tree, Ghost groaned in pain. I helped him into a sitting position and leaned him against the tree trunk. I had to get Soap, Ghost was in a bad way and I knew I couldn't get Ghost down and to the infirmary on my own as the man was taller and broader than me. It was lucky that I carry my comms system everywhere I go as I would have to leave Ghost and go find Soap, which could take too much time. I didn't bother answering Ghosts question, I just focused on getting help.

" _Soap! Come in, Ghost is down, I repeat Ghost is down!_ " I shouted into my com with urgency so hopefully that would motivate Soap to come quickly, Ghost was slowly losing consciousness again.

" _Roach, this is Soap. Tell me where you are and what Ghost's condition is!_ "I heard Soap say on the other end of the com.

 _"I am at the tree overlooking the Heli-pad and Ghost has just lost consciousness, I believe he has a fever of around the 38-39 c mark! Please hurry! I can't move him on my own!"_ I shouted, I knew that panicking wouldn't help the situation but I didn't know what to do.

 **{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…}**

 **{Searching file…}**

 **{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!..}**

 **{TRACKING! John 'Soap' MacTavish…}**

 **{Searching File…}**

 **{File Granted…}**

 **{Soap's POV…}**

After I heard that Ghost had a fever dangerously high, high enough to kill him, I immediately put the paper work I was doing down and rushed to the spot where Roach said Ghost was. I won't lie, I was extremely worried for Ghost, he was my right had man, my best friend, I wouldn't be able to cope with losing him.

I went back on my com on the way to the tree at the other side of the base, to let the infirmary know we were bringing Ghost in. "This is Captain MacTavish, I am bringing lieutenant Ghost in. make sure you have a private room ready for him, all I know is that he has a dangerously high fever and is unconscious!" I told one of the nurses when they picked up there com. I have never run that fast in my entire life, it took me 5 minutes to get from my office to the Heli-pad. I got confused looks from my team mates as I ran through the training ground, where about 6 men were working out.

The tree was now in my sight, I could see Roach leaning over someone on the wooden boards, Ghost. I climbed the ladder to see Ghost unconscious and Roach trying to make him wake up.

"I'm here Roach, what happened?" I said calmly as panic wasn't the answer and it was clear that Roach was panicky so I had to make sure he was calm too.

"MacTavish! Thank god you're here; we need to get Ghost to the infirmary, he's getting worse" Roach said, surprisingly calm. I think he knew panicking wasn't going to help Ghost. I nodded my head and went over to Ghost and kneeled down. I put my hand on his forehead and Ghost didn't do anything as much as flinch, very unlike Ghost. Ghost was always alert, even when asleep. He can sense when someone is about to touch him and ends up punching them in the face or kicking them in the nether region. I was worried, we needed to get him to the infirmary and fast, for as long as I've known him he has hardly ever gotten sick, and the times he has it was just a runny nose or a sore throat but never like this.

"Roach, I will jump down and when I give you the go can you push him off down to me and I'll catch him, ok?" I ordered. I wasn't sure if Roach could physically push him off as Ghost his really heavy and Roach isn't very strong, only just passing the entry exam for the army. Roach gave me the thumbs up. I readied myself to catch a heavy weight and I gave the thumbs up to Roach. He used all his strength to push Ghost over the edge of the platform. I braced myself and caught Ghost bridal style. Roach jumped down and we headed off to the infirmary.

Ghost lay there motionless, Doc had given him fever reducer but he didn't know what symptoms to treat until Ghost woke up. I sat in the chair at the side of the bed waiting for him to wake up as Doc said that due to his high fever he had slipped into a coma. This was devastating news. Doc said he will give him a week and if he doesn't wake up then he will be sending him to a hospital so they can get him the care he needs. I wanted to stay here, by my best friend, but I had to finish the paper work for General Shepherd.

I motioned for Roach to come with me as he just stood there, in the corner, completely still. I knew he was taking this hard as he considered Ghost as a big brother, I wanted to be there for him but I didn't know what to say.

 **{TRACKING! John 'Soap' MacTavish…}**

 **{Searching file…}**

 **{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!..}**

 **{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…}**

 **{Searching File…}**

 **{File Granted…}**

 **{Roach's POV…}**

I couldn't take it, my best mate lying in a bed, in a coma was terrible, I felt like it was my fault, I didn't find him fast enough, if only I had the strength to carry him and not have to wait for help. Soap was sitting in the chair next to Ghosts bed holding onto his hand, he suddenly got up and came over to me and put a large hand on my shoulder.

"He'll be alright mate. Do you want to tell the others or shall I?" Soap whispered. I didn't want to tell the guys but they need to know where their lieutenant was and why he couldn't train them, I thought it would be best if Soap told them because I didn't think I would be able to.

"you tell them Sir." I said barely above a whisper. Soap just nodded and steered me towards the door of Ghosts room. We went to the mess hall as that's where most of the taskforce would be at this time, 8:15am. As we entered the hall, I saw that most of the men were eating scrambled eggs on toast as that's what the kitchen was serving. Soap suddenly cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, can I please have your attention?" at that all the men in the room stood up and stood to attention as they looked towards me and Soap. "You will not be trained by Ghost for a while; instead I shall be doing it." There were murmurs of 'why' and 'how come' but Soap carried on. "The reason why is because Ghost has come down with a sickness that has caused him to slip into a coma." Gasps came from the whole room, it was shocking to them, they only know Ghost as a battle hardened warrior that never shows emotion or weakness, and to hear this must be shocking. "I don't know when he'll wake up so your stuck with me until he is fit enough to do the job. You aren't to go visit him without my consent, do I make myself clear." The room erupted in a series of 'yes Sir' "you all have today and tomorrow off, whilst I finish paperwork, dismissed." Then Soap walked out of the room and I followed him to his office.

When we got to his office he made me sit on a chair in front of his desk, as I sat down I started to cry. "its all my fault, if only I had been quicker, I might have gotten him to the infirmary quicker and his fever reduced before he went into a coma" Soap walked around to the front of the desk and patted me on the shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault, it was nobody's fault, do you hear me? You're just like Ghost, always blaming yourself for things. You need to stop it. Anyway whilst Ghost is out of action, I need you to be my new right hand man, I am temporarily promoting you to 2nd lieutenant." Soap said and handed me the rank badge, I have to day that this cheered me up a little bit, but I still felt guilty for Ghost.


	4. Torture

**{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson...}**

 **{searching file...}**

 **{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!...}**

 **{TRACKING! Shane 'Phantom' Riley...}**

 **{searching file...}**

 **{Shane 'Phantom' Riley POV...}**

somewhere in mexico.

I, Shane Riley sat with my battered, bruised head against the cold hard rock wall of this dingy prison, weary eyes closed as i tried to block out the burning pain that radiated from my stomach; something i had come to know, unfortunately, extremely well for the past 3 years: poison. It burned my insides like lava was being poured into me. It made me so sick that i had to vomit what little food i had been given, or just ending up dry heaving every 10 minutes.

i coughed up some more vile venom, too weak to get up and do it anywhere, except the place i was sitting in. i groaned, trying to remember the last time i felt so... ill,... so helpless.

Suddenly, a key rattled in the old rusty key lock at the door to my cell. They had come for me again. Every day for the last 3 years Manual Roba's son, Vincent Roba had personally come to bring me to what i can only describe as a living hell.

I jumped as the door burst open, bringing a gust of fresh air to my broken nose. The now open door way revealed the very person that i hated with all my guts, Roba.

"Hello, Shane"

Roba was a short, stubby and mean man. His greasy black hair was slicked back into a comb over, making him look like a greedy, plump businessman. Roba leaned down and grabbed my face, putting his dirty fingers in the gash on my cheek bone, making me groan in pain. Signaling his men, he let go of my face and stood up, kicking me, hard, in my already broken ankle in the process, causing me to scream in absolute agony. The guards latched there gigantic hard hands around my arms; they yanked me up to my feet just in time for another bout of vomit to spew out of my mouth, the guards let me go and i face planted hard into the puddle of sick i had just made. Roba jumped away in fear of getting the acidly substance onto is nice new suit. The guards grabbed me again but not fully, leaving my legs to drag limply behind us.

I was dragged to a small room filled with what Roba called his 'toys', every torture weapon you could think of was either hung on the walls and ceiling or placed on a counter top that surrounded the whole room. I was placed on the cold metal table, strapped down with thick leather bonds.

"Lets begin" Roba menacingly said. He reached for the first thing he could. A 10 inch long knife. Immediately he drove the knife down into my right calf at that moment panic took over for a moment as thoughts of an endless pain crept up in my mind. Agonizing stabbing pain. Wave after wave the pain kept coming. Desperate for some form of relief i tried to break free from my restraints. The worst part is that this maniac didn't want any information off of me, he just does it for fun. I screamed. An ear-piercing scream i never thought i was capable of.

Roba kept going. Stabbing. Slicing. Making large gashes in my pale scared skin. He was laughing hysterically, i thought he had gone mad. He enjoyed hurting me, destroying what sanity i had left. I closed my eyes as the blood loss was becoming too great, when suddenly i felt something large and sharp being rammed into my lower abdomen. It ripped through my body like a knife through butter. It went all the way through my body.

I passed out. Glad i was now out of pain, i wanted to die, right here right now. However i tried to hold on for my twin, Simon. i knew he would come for me even though it has been three years since he had escaped and killed Manual Roba. Simon was that sort of guy. He doesn't quit, and i doubt he has quit even after 3 years.


	5. Waking up

**{TRACKING! Shane 'Phantom' Riley…}**

 **{Searching file…}**

 **{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!..}**

 **{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…}**

 **{Searching File…}**

 **{File Granted…}**

 **{Roach's POV…}**

Back at the base of taskforce 141, 3 days after Ghost became ill.

I sat in front of Soaps desk, whilst he explained to me what he wanted me to do now that I had my new rank. However I wasn't listening to him, all that was on my mind was Ghost.

"Mate? Roach, you listening? Look I know you're worried about Ghost, but I need you to do your new duties as 2nd lieutenant. Which includes having meetings with me" Soap softly said, patting me on the shoulder.

"Yeah sorry, what did you want me to do?" I responded as Soap shook his mohawked head.

"I need you to go to the pit and record the times for training in 3 days at 18:15 hours and I want to finish this meeting before then, at 1500 hours, but for now your free, go see Ghost if you want" soap said. I did just that, after Soap dismissed me I ran towards the infirmary.

3 days later

Ghost still had a dangerously high fever, but not as high as before, this was a good sign. He had been in a coma for 3 days and in them 3 days I have not been able to concentrate due to worry. I sat down in the unoccupied chair in the corner of the room, the chair by Ghosts bed was taken by the young Sargent.

When I got there, I saw the motionless form of Simon Riley, lying completely flat with a breathing mask on his face. He was pale, paler than usual. His forehead was slick with cold sweat. Each breath was a struggle, even with the breathing mask. The iconic skull mask was sat on the bedside cabinet, along with the red sunglasses. Suddenly the heart monitor went crazy, the beeping became more rapid as Ghost's heart beat faster. I looked at his face, his eyes were moving underneath his closed eye lids. I pressed the call button and Doc came rushing in telling me to get out of the room and out of the way a he examined Ghost.

Once the beeping had slowed down after 30 minutes of waiting, Doc came out. I stood up quickly out of the chair I was sat in and rushed over to Doc.

"Is he ok, what happened?" I stumbled over my words out of worry for my best friend.

"He was having a night terror, it turns out he had slipped out of the coma but hasn't woken up yet, he may wake up in the next few hours" Doc informed me. This was great, Ghost was waking up. I had to tell Soap. I said thank you to Doc before I passed him and entered Ghost's room. He looked just as he did before I left the room, pale, sickly and fragile. His eye balls were moving under his eyelids, he was dreaming. About what I thought. Shane? His Family? I didn't know but it was a sign of waking up and it brought life into his otherwise dead looking body.

" _Soap, this is Roach. Do you copy?"_ I said as I sat down next to the occupied bed.

" _I copy Roach. What do you need?_ " I heard soaps reply on the other end.

" _Doc says that Ghost has come out of his comatose state but he still hasn't woken up. Doc said that he might wake up in the next few hours_ " I told my Captain.

" _Ok I'll tell the team, don't worry about our meeting in an hour or training, and please just stay with him. You know what happened last time he woke up without someone there with him, we don't want him panicking and making himself worse. I'll be there in half an hour."_ Soap said, I hummed in acknowledgment and turned my com off as I moved my hand to meet Ghosts pale one.

Half an hour passed and there was still no sign of him waking up. I knew I had to wait but it was agonising. I didn't like it. He didn't look right, he looks like death, literally. Ghost still hadn't moved, apart from the occasional twitch of his right index finger. Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door, then it opened revealing the tall, broad figure of Captain John McTavish.

"How's he doing?" Soap whispered as he came over and put a large hand on Ghost's forehead. Ghost didn't do anything, like at the tree.

 **{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…}**

 **{Searching file…}**

 **{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!..}**

 **{TRACKING! John 'Soap' McTavish…}**

 **{Searching File…}**

 **{File Granted…}**

 **{Soap's POV…}**

Ghost still had a dangerously high fever, but not as high as before, this was a good sign. He had been in a coma for 3 days and in them 3 days I have not been able to concentrate due to worry. I sat down in the unoccupied chair in the corner of the room, the chair by Ghosts bed was taken by the young Sargent.

"He's doing fine sir, I'm glad that he is showing signs of waking up, but there Is one question I have to ask Doc when he comes back in." Roach told me.

"what Is that then mate?" I asked, curious as to what was on Roach's mind.

"Well, what illness does Ghost had and why It did this to him. He doesn't deserve this, he's always the one to worry about his team mates rather than his own wellbeing, we can count on him to talk to If we have a problem. He's a hard-arsed warrior who doesn't show any weaknesses no matter what, this shouldn't be happening." As Roach said this, tears began to well up in his eyes and fall on his freckled cheeks.

"I don't know mate, I don't know" I said as I walked up to him and put my hand on his shoulder to give him comfort.

 **{TRACKING! John 'Soap' MacTavish…}**

 **{Searching file…}**

 **{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!...}**

 **{normal POV…}**

When someone is in a coma, and they are waking up, a few things happen. First, they get their sense of smell back. Things begin to open up. Then, they are able to hear. It only takes a minute after that for them to see, and the mind functions and put things together. Then the vocal cords become un-paralyzed. Ghost had just opened up as Roach was speaking to MacTavish. Saying he didn't deserve this. He heard the words, but he didn't understand them all the way. The voice was familiar, he knew that. He wanted to know fully who it was that was talking. Ghost tried to move his fingers in an attempt to get the voice to acknowledge that he was trying to wake up. Then it clicked, the person talking was Roach, he recognised it now. Soft, slightly higher pitched, the voice of a young person. Ghost let out a groan as he slowly opened his eye, immediately he closed them again as the light was too bright, he let out a more audible groan, one that Soap, and Roach heard.

The Captain and Sargent looked away from each other and looked at Ghost. He was moving his head from side to side at this point, slowly he was coming back, waking up. Roach rushed to his side whilst Soap went to get Doc. Once Roach was at the downed Lieutenants side he gently held his hand. Roach wanted a response, an indication that it wasn't a dream.

"Come on Simon, you need to wake up. The team aren't training without your ass out there shouting and cussing them to do it " Roach said softly. Suddenly there was light pressure on his hand. He looked down and saw that Ghost was tensing his hand slightly. This was a defiantly good sign; Lt Ghost was waking up. The sergeant's eyes strayed away from the intertwined hands and up to Ghosts eyes. Ghosts eyelids were flickering. Then they opened, ice blue met deep brown. He was awake, 3 days of worry vanished from within Roach's mind. His friend, his brother was back.

 **{TRACKING! Simon 'Ghost' Riley…}**

 **{Searching File…}**

 **{File Granted…}**

 **{Ghost's POV…}**

I struggled to open my eyes, the lights were too bright. My whole body ached, I felt ill. A constant beeping could be heard within my head, or was it outside, I didn't know I was so confused. Questions were floating around my head such as, what happened? Where am I? As I looked around the stark white room I could only just make out a figure sat in a chair in the corner and another figure stood up next to me. My vision was so foggy. My head felt like it was going to explode. I blinked a few times, my eyes adjusting slightly to the bright lights of the room. I could now make out the figure holding my hand was Roach.

Then everything hit me, the headache got worse, then the nausea started, my muscles throbbed in pain, all at once. I couldn't cope, my stomach twisted and cramped, then suddenly I felt bile rising rapidly up my throat. I sat up quickly and threw my head over the side of the bed, however I failed to notice the breathing mask over my mouth and nose and before I could stop it, vomit surged out of my mouth but it couldn't go anywhere but the mask. I was suffocating, choking on my own vomit. I tried desperately to take the mask off, I fumbled with the straps, my fingers numb from disuse. This was it this was how I was going to die. Breathing seemed like a fantasy, I couldn't do it. The edge of my vision was getting darker. But before I lost complete consciousness I felt a pair of firm hands steady my shoulders as another pair ripped of the mask, letting the contents of my stomach fall to the floor. I still couldn't breathe, i was dry heaving at this point and it just wouldn't stop. My head was beginning to build with pressure with the force of the dry heaving.

I could hear the panicked voice of Soap shouting for Doc to do something. Everything sounded as though I was underwater. Through my hazy vision I could make out the form of Doc rushing to me with a needle. I felt a sharp prick in my left arm. My eyes started to close on their own, major fatigue surrounded my brain. A sedative. I tried to fight it, I didn't want to go to sleep yet, when I heard a soothing voice.

"shh its ok mate, just go to sleep, don't fight it" the voice belonged to Soap. Battle worn fingers slowly brushed through my sweaty hair lulling me to sleep. Everything still hurt but knowing that my captain and best friend was there soothed the pain, so it was manageable.


	6. The hunt is on

Chapter 5 – the hunt is on

{TRACKING! John 'Soap' MacTavish…}

{Searching file…}

{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!...}

{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…}

{Searching File…}

{File Granted…}

{Roach's POV…}

Once Soap had sent me away to find Sergeant Shane Riley, I immediately went back to my shared room. It took me all of 10 seconds to find what I was looking for, my Alienware laptop. The laptop was a 20th birthday present from Ghost. He had insisted that if I was going to become the best hacker in the taskforce then I needed the proper equipment to do so.

Then with laptop in hand I went to the mess hall where I knew no one would be now, 7:30pm. Grabbing a coffee, I sat down at my usual table, opening the laptop, I started to search for my lieutenant's twin brother. At first, I started by hacking into the SAS data base to determine the last known location of Shane. Just as I had thought he was last seen on the date of the mission the twins were captured at the Mexican drug cartel of Manual Roba. It was possible that Shane was still at the cartel but highly unlikely. Still it was worth a try.

I had to tell Soap that I had a possible location of where to find Shane. After spending 9 hours searching for the lost sergeant I had found a lead. It was now 4:00am, so I decided to go to bed for a few hours before I told Soap. If this mission was approved then I wanted to be on it, alert and ready for anything that may come.

On route to the barracks I passed the infirmary, so I decided to see if Ghost was ok, as I hadn't seen him in over 9 hours. I was curious as to what his condition was now. I entered the private room where Ghost was staying, pleasantly surprised to see that Ghost had a nose cannula on and his beloved mask on his face. In the corner of the room I spotted Soap, sleeping uncomfortably in the hard wooden chair, snoring loudly. Chuckling softly I quietly walked over to Ghost and placed a hand on his forehead, he was still hot, burning hot. He wasn't improving. He may be out of a coma but he was still in danger. I squeezed his hand and left the room.

I was shattered, I had yet again pulled an all-nighter. This time it was for a good cause, I had found a lead as to where Shane could be. When I got to my bunk I didn't bother getting undressed, I just flopped down and as soon as my head hit my pillow I passed out.

Around an hour later, I was rudely woken up to the other 2 people in the room getting ready and Meat decided to wake me up also.

"Come on Roach, its 5:15 am time for training. You were supposed to be at the pit 15mins ago" Meat said as he began to shake me violently. I groaned in response, only having 1 hour of sleep didn't help me to wake up. "What time did you go to bed last night, you're usually up at 4:45am."

"4:15am" I groaned and started to sit up in my bunk. My movements were slow and sluggish, "tell the team that I will do the training in half an hour, that gives me time to wake up and have a cold shower" Meat nodded in response, surprised at the time I had gone to bed.

{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson…}

{Searching file…}

{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!...}

{TRACKING! Jamie 'Meat' Garcia …}

{Searching File…}

{File Granted…}

{Meat's POV…}

Waking Roach up had proven to be a task and a half. It was now 5:15am and I've been trying to wake him up for 30minutes. Out of the four of us in this room Roach is the lightest sleeper, 2nd to Ghost. I usually takes one nudge of his shoulder to wake him up. But now, after shaking his for half an hour he finally starts to come around. When I found out that he went to bed at 4:15 am I was shocked. Thankfully this training session was the only one for today and we have the rest of the day to ourselves so he could go back to bed.

When I was sure that Roach wasn't about to go back to bed, I left the room and went to the Rec room to tell the guys that training starts in half an hour. Sitting on the old worn leather coach, I spotted Roach's laptop on the coffee table, I wondered if that is what Roach was doing all night. Deciding to take the laptop back to our room so he doesn't lose it, I stood up and walked swiftly to the barracks, taking the laptop with me.

I slipped into the dark room, I couldn't see Roach getting ready so I looked into the adjoined bathroom only to find he wasn't there. I looked back at his bed and noticed he had fallen asleep again. Sighing, I decided to go get Soap.

Around 5 minutes later I had Soap following me to my room, where Roach was still sleeping peacefully. When Soap saw Roach he didn't do anything, not wake him up or nothing. He turned to look at me.

"What time did he go to bed last night?" he asked quietly as to not disturb the sleeping sergeant.

"He said around 0415 hour's sir" I said as Soap sighed and motioned for us to take this conversation out of the room.

"Right, I don't want him woken up, he's been stressed lately for obvious reasons and I told him to search for Sgt Shane Riley last night, that's why he went to bed so late. I will do the training this morning. Get the men to form up in three ranks in 10 minutes on the training ground." I muttered a 'yes sir' to that and left to the rec room to get the team.

"Training outside now! Form up in three ranks and wait for further orders!" I shouted with authority once I got to the rec room. The men rushed out of the room. Down the corridor and made their way to the training area.

I stood in front of them and took control of the parade before Soap made an appearance next to me. I stood them to attention and saluted Captain MacTavish.

"Stand them at ease Sergeant" Soap said and I followed that order. "Men, I will be running this training session with the help of Meat. Today's training schedule consists of shooting with the range officer and after that, CQB with myself. Is this clear." A chorus of yes sir's rung out through the ranks.

An hour in, and the other members of the taskforce were shooting at the various targets on the range. Everyone scores were to be expected from the best of the best, the current situation wasn't hindering their training. I looked to where Roach usually would be and wondered if he was awake yet. After we had finished with the range we went to the mats in the gym to start CQB training. The training lasted another 2 hours before Soap called it a day.

{TRACKING! Jamie 'Meat' Garcia …}

{Searching file…}

{WARNING! SYSTEM SHUT DOWN!...}

{TRACKING! Gary 'Roach' Sanderson …}

{Searching File…}

{File Granted…}

{Roach's POV…}

I groaned as I heard footsteps coming towards my room, slowly opening my eyes, I turned my head to glance at the alarm clock on the table. It was 9:00am. Crap. I had missed training. Quickly I jumped out of bed, hitting my head on the ceiling. This caused me to fall from the top bunk. That hurt. I then proceeded to get up from the heap of bed sheets on the floor. The movement proved to be too fast. My vision started to swim, dizziness my senses, my head felt like it was going to explode. Great. I put this down to the lack of sleep. The pounding in my head continued as I walked towards the mess hall to grab some breakfast. Once there I realised that I had left my laptop in the same position as it was last night. Grabbing a coffee, double strength, and asking one of the volunteers for a bacon sandwich, I sat down at the same table and continued to search for Sgt Shane Riley.

"Roach, I thought you were in bed?" Soap said suddenly as he placed a large hand on my shoulder causing me to jump out of my skin. I turned around, facing the Scottish brute. He looked concerned. I must have looked horrendous.

"I'm sorry for missing training this morning sir." I quipped. He gave me a funny look then proceeded glance over at the computer screen, where red letters flashed across the screen saying 'Search for Sergeant Shane Mathew Riley: Last seen – Mexico, Roba's Drug cartel. Reports have seen a truck leaving the area 3 years ago. Licence plate: YL98 MWE' along with pictured of said truck. That might have been used to transport Shane. Soap smiled.

"So, you have got a lead, huh?" just as Soap had said this another screen popped up saying 'last known location of YL98 MWE – Ciudad Acuna, Mexico' "Well I guess we know where to look now" the Scotsman said as he placed a large hand on my shoulder. The contact was comforting, but his booming voice didn't do my already banging head any favours. I dropped my head down into my hands and rubbed my eyes. God I was tired.

"Only took me,… 8hrs 45 minutes." I said as I moved to stand up. Soap pushed me back down.

"Where do you think you're going? You still only had 4 hours of sleep. I want you to go to bed and I don't want you to come out until lunch time. Do you understand?" I looked at him in disbelief. I wanted to go and see Ghost, not go to bed.

"I was going to see Ghost. Am I allowed to sleep in his room with him? Its been hours since I last saw him." Soap gave an approving nod, as he helped me to stand up. I was still really dizzy. That knock to the head this morning really messed me up. The other reason I was going to the infirmary was to check if I had a concussion or not. As I made a B line to the infirmary I could sense that Soap was worried.

I went straight to see Doc when I got to the bases medical centre. My head was now really starting to hurt, it was starting to get hard to keep my eyes open. When I entered the infirmary I could see Doc in his office, I managed to avoid him ass I slipped into Ghost's room. Once I had closed the door, I settled in the chair next to Ghost's bed and placed my hand on top of his. I decided to close my eyes for a bit and before I knew it I was asleep, completely dead to the world.


End file.
